News

30 January 2013

BlackBerry launches new OS and handsets

BlackBerry, the company formerly known as Research In Motion (RIM), launched its long-awaited BlackBerry 10 OS and handsets on Wednesday, a milestone release that could determine the company's ability to compete with the likes of Apple and Samsung in the smartphone space.

The company has finally announced details of its first BlackBerry 10 handset, the 4G-capable BlackBerry Z10.The device is the first to use the new BlackBerry 10 OS based around the concepts of Hub, Flow and Peek, and signals BlackBerry's ambition to take on rival headline-dominating handsets such as the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the iPhone.

The Z10's core specs include a 4.2-inch 4-point multi-touch display with a 1280 x 768 pixel resolution, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 2GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage, which can be augmented by an additional 32GB with a microSD card.

While the device is clearly aimed at traditional BlackBerry users, the company also knows it needs to appeal to consumers too (including the Bring Your Own Device crowd). It's covering both input bases: the Z10 will come with a touchscreen only, whilst a soon-to-be-released handset, the Q10, will be equipped with both touchscreen and Qwerty keyboard for the more traditional BlackBerry users.